Seeing the Light for the First Time
by Sage Dans Les Lys
Summary: He was content about rotting away in this silent prison. Until he has a chance to hold his one friend again. Then he sees what light really means.
1. Chapter 1

**~Seeing the Light for the First Time~**

**Chapter 1**

If there was one thing he had to hate about this place, it was the silence. The empty, hollow sound of nothing that reminds him of the times he got "punished" in that forsaken hell hole of a tower. Irony really- Tower of Heaven who created hell. Cobra looked at the cuffs that connected his wrists together and pulled them for what felt like the millionth time. He knew that they wouldn't break- he learned that from the first day here. The tug was only to cause noise, even if it was only the rattling of chains.

He guessed this was the drawback of having sound magic- you get so use to hearing everything- thoughts, feelings, souls- that when there is only silence, you feel so empty. At least that was part of Cobra's indifferent nature about what will happen to him. The majority of the reason was something much simpler- he no longer had Cubellios by his side.

Cubellios was Cobra's reason for living, striving towards a future where he could hear his dear friend's voice. But now the one person Cobra trusted with everything he possessed is gone. Somewhere out in the world and far out of the mage's reach. Or about Cubellios was always out of Cobra's reach and this was how the universe decided to tear apart the one dream that he ever had.

So here he is- chained in a prison cell, surrounded by deafening silence that only made his hope about finding his partner sink a little bit more into the black hole inside of him. Suddenly there were footsteps coming down the hall. Even without the help of sound magic, Cobra could hear them from miles away, their heavy footsteps echoing loudly off of stone and steel. Not bothering to stand up or even more, the poison dragon slayer cracks open his one good eye to stare at the guard now in front of him.

"You have a visitor."

"Ok," came the reply with shrugging shoulders as companion.

The guard walked out, a quiet stream of curses directed towards the prisoner flowing out of his mouth. Cobra closed his eye again, not caring who it was. Probably a council member coming to bug him about giving them more information on dark guilds.

"You look tired, young man."

That voice had Cobra snapping open his eye and jumping to his feet. Visible surprise and confusion mixed together, his brain racking half baked reasons together for why he has THIS visitor, as the young man hissed out, "You…."


	2. Chapter 2

**~Seeing the Light for the First Time~**

**Chapter 2**

Makarov raised a hand in getting. "Yo." The kid looked like someone just shot his dog right in front of him. _'Or just shot him in the back'_ the Fairy Tail master thought bitter. The old man sat down Indian style in front of the prison bars and took out his pipe to smoke. Hopefully this meeting would run smoothly. Thank God, Yajima still has some strong influence within the Council. If it wasn't for his old friend, he would have never convinced the Council to let him do this. At least, not without so serious damage to everyone livers from having to drink away their frustrations with each other.

"Come on, sit down. I just want to talk to you about a proposition I have for you."

The kid slowly went down to sit on the ground, his back pressed against the wall, away from him. Suspicious eyes watched him carefully as if this kid was- true to his nickname- a snake waiting for the chance to pounce at the first sign of attack. "What do you want, old man?"

"I come to offer you a place in Fairy Tail."

"Hell no."

_'That was fast,'_ Makarov thought as he removed his pipe from his lips to blow a large smoke ring off to the side. _'I thought he would have at least waited until I got the terms out on the table.'_

"Why not?"

The poison dragon slayer glared at him, distrust shining in his eyes. Not that he could be blamed. "I don't want to be there. I don't know why you would even want me there."

Well, wasn't this déjà vu. The Council asked him that after Yajima got them to agree to this. And he was going to answer this young man just like he answered those old stuck up fools. "Because you have some much potential. So much life and fight left in you, that it would be a damn awful shame to let you waste away in this cell. I believe Fairy Tail has someone that will help you become tap into that potential."

"Someone?"

Makarov pulled out a folded up picture from his coat pocket and handed it to Cobra, while explaining, "She's the one who came to me and asked if there was any way to get you out. Said you mean to much to her for her to don't try and do something to save you." Curious eyes took in the woman that was the subject of the picture for a moment before the inmate asked, "Who is she?"

"Kinana. Or as you know her as, Cubellios."

Eyes widen in disbelief at him, and Makarov went on explaining. "An evil mage turned her into a snake when she was a little girl. Eventually she found her way to the Tower of Heaven where she met you. After your arrest, Erza found her unconscious in her human body. When she woke up, she couldn't remember anything that happened after she got turned.

But about five months after joining Fairy Tail as a waitress, she says she started to remember. More specify, she said she started to remember you after constant dreams of hearing your voice. That is when she came begging to me to try and get you out of here. With the help of Yajima, the Council has allowed me to let you join- by your own free will- Fairy Tail, if only you report back to them every six months about what you have done and places you have gone."

"I'll join."

Startled, the Third Fairy Tail master asked, "Excuse me?" Determined eyes lifted up from the picture, which Cobra clutched as if it was a lifeline. "I'll join Fairy Tail. But only because Kinana is there."

The old man nodded, mentally shaking his head. Seven dragon slayers in a guild- HIS guild-… the future was starting to look much more interesting. And expensive.


	3. Chapter 3

**~Seeing the Light for the First Time~**

**Chapter 3**

Cobra groaned as the train once again rocked. If there had to be one thing that he despised about being a dragon slayer, it was the damn motion sickness. Because really- a dragon (or something relating to them) getting sick from a moving vehicle? That was just plain sad. It doesn't help that the vehicle decides to be a little shit and rocks as many times as fucking possible or bumps over something every five minutes.

After about three or four hours of the torture, the train decided that it had enough fun for the day. Coming to a halt, the damn whistle blew, causing Cobra's ears to slightly ring painfully. Not as much as when Natsu roared in his ear, but it stung. He rubbed his left ear as he hopped off the train, his one bag in hand. Makarov left him to take care of all the paperwork and finally warnings from the Council, leaving him the directions to the Fairy Tail guild building. After getting released from prison with a warning to "be good" and about 1000 jewels in hand, the mage bought his train ticket, some clothes, and a present for Kinana.

"Cobra!"

The man looked up to see the woman no more than three yards away from him. Violet hair, green eyes, curvy body, a smile that rivaled the sun… Gods, she's more beautiful in person than in that picture, which is still folded up in his jacket pocket. And her voice- the softest music to his ears. Tears were shining in her eyes, and Cobra gave a small smile. The tears fell and she ran to him, ignoring everyone else that was rushing in the opposite direction of her. In the middle of the train station, paying no attention to any possible on lookers, Kinana jumped at him, her arms extended and a smile on her lips. His bag dropped to the ground with a 'thump', freeing his arms to catch the young woman.

As soon as she was in his arms, Cobra pulled her close. They fell into a two person pile on the floor, Cobra flat on his back with Kinana on top of him. Her laughter filled his ears and so he found himself laughing too. The waitress rubbed her forehead against his, tears still falling and whispered, "I missed you. So much."

"I missed you too."

Slender fingers ran down the scar across his right eye as the male sat them up so that Kinana was now sitting in his lap, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. There were no questions asked about the scar, only fingers and then a pair of lips and a soft whisper of, "Cobra".

"Erik."

The woman pulled back slightly, confusion on her face before understanding replaced it. "Erik", she muttered, his real name rolling off her tongue as if it was the most natural thing in the world. They stayed like this for who knows how long, ignorant of the world and it's happens and other inhabitants outside of this peaceful sphere of theirs. Finally, Cobra gently grabbed Kinana's thighs and stood up, taking her with him before setting her back down on her own feet. He picked up his bag and extended his hand out to Kinana.

But instead of grabbing it, the woman dived under his arm to cuddle up to his side, one of her arms wrapped around his waist. The extended arm, seemingly naturally, fell to wrap around her shoulder. Then they walked forward into their shared future at Fairy Tail, quiet conversation passing between them all the while.


	4. Chapter 4

**~Seeing the Light for the First Time~**

**Chapter 4**

Cobra wasn't a coward, despite where he currently was. He was sitting on the roof of the Fairy Tail guild building to avoid the party that was going on inside. About an hour ago, he and Kinana arrived at the guild and met up with Master Makarov. The old man than announced to the rest of the Fairy Tail members about his presence. Of course, there were voiced concerns from Erza, Gray, and Lucy about his reasons for wanting to be in the guild, which he shot back with by saying, "I'm only here because Kinana is here. As long as she is here, I'll be here." Surprising, nothing came from Natsu and Wendy who only stared at him with a smirk on Natsu's face and a shy smile on Wendy's.

After that, a party to celebrate his new membership with them. Kinana had to go and tend to the bar with that Mirajane woman, parting from him with an apologetic smile and a kiss to his cheek. He managed to avoid the rest of the Fairy Tail members, who soon lost the true reason for the party and just started to, well, party. That is when he left, the noise finally getting to him. But since he doesn't have a place to stay at yet, he just climbed up the building and sit on the roof until Kinana got done with her shift.

"Um, Cobra?"

The mage looked down to see Wendy standing below, hands behind her back and nervousness gleaming in her eyes. The man jumped down and landed a couple of feet away from the young girl. "What do you want?"

"I just want to welcome you to Fairy Tail." At this, Cobra raised an eyebrow. She wants to welcome him to Fairy Tail? Despite the fact that he was part of a guild that kidnapped her, made her heal Jellal, and nearly destroyed her previous guild for the twisted reason of getting rid of all the light?

"Why? Don't you remember what I did in the past?"

"I remember everything." This was spoken softly, her eyes locked up him. "But everyone has a reason for doing what they do, not matter how it sounds to other people. Not only that, but Kinana brought you here because she believes in you. We will believe in you too."

Choosing to ignore the warmth feeling in the pit of his belly, Cobra asked, "We?" Just then, a set of arms came around his shoulders. Startled, the poison dragon slayer looked at each side of him to side a long haired raven man on his right and a blonde man with a lightening shaped scar on his left. Natsu, another blonde, and another raven came up behind Wendy. "Yep, we." Natsu said with a shit eating grin (at least in Cobra's opinion).

The pink haired mage pointed at the long haired raven (Cobra had to wonder how painful it was to get that many piercing) and continued, "He's Gajeel, the iron dragon slayer. The blonde to your left is Laxus, the lightening dragon slayer. The other blonde to my right is Sting, the light dragon slayer, and the raven to my left is Rogue, the shadow dragon slayer. And you already know me and Wendy."

Laxus ruffled Cobra's hair, making it even spikier and messier than it was, while Sting said, "Come on- there's a firework festival going on in a little bit. I doubt anyone else at the guild remembers but hey, more peace and quiet for us." With that the two dragon slayers at his side started to pull him down the street, the other four coming on to them so that all seven of them were walking in a horizontal line in the middle of the street.

Though this was his first day, Cobra had a suspicion that he was going to like being in Fairy Tail if the light feeling in the pit of his belly and the comfortableness he felt from listening to the others talk were anything to go by.


End file.
